"Parker, you better come take a look at this," Nathan beckoned to his partner from the window in their shared office.
"Holy winter wonderland, Batman. Guess we better call it an early day if we want to make it home before we're snowed in."
Nathan gave her a small nod and went out into the bullpen to alert the other officers that the blizzard was moving in more quickly than anticipated. Audrey heard an excited 'Whoop!' from the normally sedated Stan as he all but ran toward the station's exit.
"Let me transfer any calls into the station to my cell and then I'll give you a ride back to your apartment."
"Don't worry about it, Nathan." Audrey answered him. "I drove today. I'll make it back fine."
"Parker, your car will be about as useful as a sled in this snow. I put the snow chains on the Bronco this morning. Trust me on this one."
Riding back to the Gull through a true Maine blizzard, Audrey decided, was almost as beautiful as it was perilous. As promised, Nathan's snow chains kept the ancient truck firmly on the pavement, but the same could not be said for the other spattering of cars on the road. Twice Nathan had had to swerve to just miss oncoming cars that had skidded out of control. She had initially though he'd been being overprotective offering her a ride, but as she relaxed against the passenger door and occupied herself with taking in the picturesque wintery scenery, she was grateful he'd insisted.
At long last they pulled up to the parking lot of the Grey Gull. It was absolutely empty and covered in many inches of fresh fat wet snow so that the Bronco acted more as a snow plow than a vehicle as Nathan maneuvered them toward the stairs to her apartment. When they were about 10 yards away, he put the car into park.
"Sorry, but you'll have to walk the rest of the way. Or should I say swim," he gave her a wry smirk. "If I go any further I don't think I'll be able to back her out of here."
"That's no problem. I'll get soaked on the way in but I'll just strip down as soon as I'm through the door," Audrey bustled around in the cab of the truck getting her many bags together. Nathan gave a rather audible gulp in response to the visual her pronouncement induced, but if she noticed she didn't let on and turned to smile at him goofily when she finally got her oversized trapper hat and mittens on. The effect was so ridiculous, Nathan's mind immediately went from amorous to affectionate, a jump he frequently experienced when thinking of his partner, and he smiled sweetly at her and said in as serious a tone as he could muster, "Good luck, Parker. We're all rooting for you."
This made her laugh, and it seemed to Nathan the sound continued to echo through the truck even as he watched her trudge slowly along through the snow to her apartment. She turned back a few times to throw him a silly grin and he waited patiently till she had unlocked and passed through her front door before putting the truck into reverse and carefully steering it along the tracks he'd made minutes earlier that were already beginning to disappear beneath a fresh blanket of snow.
When she got through her door as advertised she stripped down to her underwear leaving her wet clothes in a heap on the doormat. After pulling on her warmest and fluffiest sweats and getting a fire started in her fireplace she curled up on her couch with a warm cocoa and lost herself to watching the flames dance and crackle. Life had been pretty good in Haven recently, Audrey reflected. The troubles, which had been escalating all summer long, seemed to have taken a page from the rest of the town and were entering that state of semi-hibernation that comes upon a summer tourist town in the winter. The streets were emptier and the work was slower, but for once in her life Audrey didn't begrudge the slow pace or the normalcy. She still didn't have any answers about who or what she was, but somehow the terror these thoughts usually brought on seemed muted, like the thick heavy snow outside were grounding and insulating her from the weird supernatural forces that would control her.
Maybe the nicest change the winter had brought to Haven was in her partner. The usually moody and stoic Nathan Wuornos had become downright chipper in recent weeks as Christmas approached. She'd known he favored this time of year but had not expected to find him so wholly transformed. Twice in the last week alone she'd heard him laughing outright. Not the chuckles or chortles he usually had for things he found amusing or ridiculous but full out belly laughter. True once had been at her expense as she tried desperately to find words to compliment Laverne's truly terrible fruitcake that she'd taken a regretfully large bite of. But she found it impossible to be angry with him when his eyes were shining so brightly and his handsome mouth was stretched in such an impossibly wide grin.
She was just beginning to fall into a light sleep, with images of blue smiling eyes and white heavy snowflakes dancing behind her eyelids when she was roused awake by the harsh buzz of her cell phone. "Hello?" she asked groggily.
"Audrey," Duke's voice pleaded urgently. "I know there's about 2 feet of snow on the ground outside, but you need to get to the Cape Rouge right now."
"Duke?" Audrey asked with concern, "What is it? What's going on?"
"Oh not much. Just thought you'd like to see my Christmas tree," Duke replied with a strangled laugh.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Audrey asked still a bit dazed from her near nap.
"Only problem is," Duke continued ignoring her, "that instead of a pine this year I opted for an apple tree…which is 10 feet tall…and growing out of the floor of my boat."
"Crap," Audrey muttered. "I'll be right over."